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The Susquehanna Warrior Trail follows the west bank of the Susquehanna River for about 12 miles through Luzerne County, from Canal Park in West Nanticoke to the Susquehanna Riverlands park in Salem Township. It rides the old Delaware, Lackawanna and Western grade, so it is rail-grade flat on a hard packed crushed stone surface about 10 feet wide. The route threads between U.S. Route 11 and the river, mostly under trees, with open stretches of meadow and a few road crossings. Midway it passes through the streets of Shickshinny and crosses Shickshinny Creek on an old railroad bridge. Trailheads with parking sit at Canal Park, Garden Drive, the Union Township boat launch, Shickshinny, and the Riverlands.
Susquehanna Warrior Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
In a typical year the Susquehanna Warrior Trail has about 120 to 159 days of excellent weather for popular activities such as hiking, dog walking, e-biking, birding, running, biking, and walking, with May, September, and October the best months.
Hourly comfort scores for the next 15 days of weather, tuned to your activity and your own thresholds.
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the Susquehanna Warrior Trail!
In half of past years, color along the Susquehanna Warrior Trail peaks October 15 to 25, typically around October 20. The trail has 55% deciduous coverage, with the majority being red maple, chestnut oak, northern red oak, and sweet birch.
Ground was broken for the North Branch Canal at Berwick on July 4, 1828, and its towpath ran up this side of the river to a dam at Nanticoke. A lock from that canal still stands near the West Nanticoke end of the trail. A Native American footpath followed this bank before the canal did. In 1852 the Pennsylvania legislature chartered the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad. Its first 17 miles from Scranton to Kingston opened on June 24, 1856, and the line pushed on down the river through Shickshinny to Berwick, Bloomsburg, and Northumberland. It hauled Wyoming Valley anthracite and iron ore for the Bloomsburg furnaces. By June 1873 the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western controlled the line. The DL&W merged with the Erie in 1960 to form the Erie Lackawanna, which passed into Conrail in 1976. Conrail gave up the line in 1984. The lower end became the North Shore Railroad, which still runs as far as Salem Township; the grade above it toward Nanticoke went quiet. Remnants of the Hunlock Creek station survive along the way. The Pennsylvania Environmental Council studied a trail here in 1995, and the Susquehanna Warrior Trail Council formed on June 7, 1999. Construction began in 2007 and the trail opened to the public that year. Volunteers have kept it up since, clearing storm-felled trees and running an annual 5K. In 2025 the council applied for funds to extend the trail 3.69 miles north past the Avondale Mine memorial to the Luzerne County Levee Trail.
Susquehanna Riverlands LoopRiverside TrailNorth Branch Canal Towpath
